Rodwell in Carrick out?

With the summer transfer window about to slam shut and with Fergie still no nearer solving his central midfield problems, the latest transfer gossip suggests United could be about to test Everton's resolve with a £10m bid for Jack Rodwell. According to reports, Michael Carrick will be offered as part of any deal.

Rodwell is a rising English star who looks to have a genuine chance of making it at the very top. Assuming there is some truth behind this rumour, a lot will depend on how much Everton need United's cash right now, and of course would David Moyes fancy Michael Carrick as a replacement?

Carrick has become a bit-part player at Old Trafford and he'd probably jump at the chance to play more regularly; that is he would if Everton were willing to match his wages...

Rodwell would be a good addition to the United squad, but who would he replace in the current United team, Scholes or Fletcher? Rodwell can play anywhere down the middle, either in midfield or at the back, and of course Scholes is still United's main creative force.

You have to wonder where Rodwell would fit into the big scheme of things; would he be viewed as a Roy Keane type and if so, does that mean he'd be seen as a replacement for Fletcher and not Scholes?

Fergie launches PR offensive over Rooney and Bebé but doubts persist as United stroll to easy win...

So then Wayne Rooney finally broke that scoring hoodoo against the Hammers on Saturday, the goal when it arrived came from the penalty-spot after Ryan Giggs was brought down inside the box by Jonathan Spector.

Rooney's penalty was well struck, but there looked to be an element of doubt in the player's mind as the United striker checked his stride on the run up as he changed direction, in so doing sending Robert Green the wrong way. Yes, Rooney scored, but the manner in which he took that spot-kick was very unusual.

Contrary to what Ferguson said after the game, Rooney didn't play that well, at times he looked sluggish and off the pace as he done over the last few months.

Nani and Dimitar Berbatov added further goals, both were spectacular. Nani's came about five minutes into the second-half following a mazey run by the Portuguese winger before he crashed home a stunning left foot drive that gave Robert Green no chance.

Dimitar Berbatov scored with twenty minutes remaining on the clock following good link up play between John O'Shea and Nani, whose cross found the Bulgarian unmarked on the edge of Robert Green's six-yard box. Berbatov lashed home a spectacular waist-high right foot volley and once again Green had no answer.

Not long after scoring, Berbatov, was wrongly substituted by Ferguson - it should have been Rooney who made way for Michael Owen.

Berbatov must be wondering what he has to do, because clearly there appears to be different rules for different players at Old Trafford - even when he's been the pick of the strikers, as he has all season to date and Rooney hasn't been at the races, it's the Bulgarian who continues to be the fall guy.

Ferguson praised Rooney's work-rate after the game, but his words of comfort for his star striker are to put it politely unconvincing.

The United manager is quite obviously sticking with Rooney in a bid to play him back into some sort of form, but time waits for no man and so do not be surprised to see the former Everton star being taken off or left out of the starting line-up if we do not see a rapid return to form.

It was all just a little bit too easy against West Ham, but United will more than likely face an altogether more serious examination in the next three fixtures against, Everton (away), Rangers and Liverpool at home.

While Berbatov was once again the pick of the United forwards, Scholes was in charge in the engine room and the Hammers had no answer. Scholes was the man of the match again and long may it continue.

Meanwhile, in other news and following the leaks coming out of Carrington about new signing Bebé, the club have been briefing journalists about the circumstances leading up to United shelling out £7.4m for a player who they could have signed for nothing just a few weeks ago.

According to the latest spin, the club are doing tests on the player in a bid to improve his core fitness amidst rumours that the 20-year old is out of his depth.

Bebé's former club reportedly initially inserted a €3million release clause in his contract, but after "watching him train" in pre-season friendlies, the club renegotiated with the player, and subsequently raised the release clause to €9million. Well, these reports conflict with the rumours coming out of Carrington about the player whose touch and fitness have been questioned. The gossiping about this transfer will only stop when and if Bebé comes good...watch this space.

Rooney facing Fergie axe if his form doesn't improve and quickly?...

Following the loss of Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez, United have had to more or less totally rely on Wayne Rooney to score the goals. The former Everton striker scored 34 in total last season, it was an amazing return for a forward who hadn't previously been prolific for United.

Rooney had a fantastic season, but it all turned sour in the knockout phase of the Champions League when he sustained an injury against Bayern Munich in March and he hasn't scored since for either club or country.

In the summer Ferguson moved to strengthen his forward options with the addition of Javier Hernadez. The Mexican has great potential and his arrival will almost certainly push Michael Owen down the pecking order. Fergie can also call upon Kiko Macheda who suffered with injuries last season.

But the man in form at Old Trafford right now is Dimitar Berbatov. The situation is this: Berbatov's name is currently the first on Fergie's team-sheet. With question marks about his form, Rooney is no longer guaranteed his starting place. Last weekend, we were told Rooney didn't travel to London for the Fulham game because of a 'stomach bug' - there's no reason at this stage to question if that was the real reason. However, the pressure is very much on Rooney to re-discover his form and to use a Fergie phrase 'there's no question about that'.

It doesn't actually matter who scores the goals, as long as United win and everyone including Rooney is doing their job for the team.

Unlike last season, Rooney's regular starting place is under threat because we now have serious competition for places and that's exactly how it should be.

There was a feeling following that injury in the away leg against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, that Rooney was rushed back too soon. If the same thing happened this season, then surely there's no reason why the manager should rush his star striker back into action.

Later today United face West Ham United at Old Trafford. Rooney has been pencilled in to start, with Everton, Rangers and Liverpool on the horizon now would be a good time for the player who scored 34 goals least season to rediscover his touch in front of goal.

If you fancy a punt on Manchester United vs West Ham United, then check out the latest betting odds.

First goal scorer odds:
Wayne Rooney 4.00 (3/1) Eurobet.com
Dimitar Berbatov 5.00 (4/1) Eurobet.com
Chicharito 5.00 (4/1) Bet365.com

Coaches have 'misgivings' about Bebe...alarm bells ringing?

Well, well, well, so according to a report in today's Guardian, United's reserve team coaches are so disappointed with new £7.4m signing Bebe that they don't know when he's likely to be fit enough to play for United; even at this very early stage you begin to wonder if there's any real prospect of the Portuguese striker ever playing for the first-team.

Over the last few months in between making digs at big-spending Manchester City, Fergie been carping on about lack of value in the transfer. Those lack of value comments could well come back to haunt Ferguson, given he's admitted he'd never seen Bebe play before splashing out £7.4m.

At a time when the United manager is reportedly low on transfer funds, supporters will be wondering what the true motives were behind this move. Apparently, United have beaten off interest from Real Madrid and Benfica - at least that's one theory - but why didn't the club move for Bebe before he signed for Vitória Guimarães on a free transfer a few months ago, in so doing saving £7.4m?

There's no suggestion from this blog that anything underhand has gone on, but you have to wonder if this transfer will be the subject of a future investigation due to the amount involved and the circumstances leading up to it.

Perhaps Fergie has been led down the garden path by his 'old friend' Carlos Queiroz, and maybe the United manager thought he was about to sign the next Ronaldo; but when he first came to the club, it was very obvious he was destined for stardom - sadly it appears to be an altogether different scenario for Bebe...at least it does judging by the vibes coming out of Carrington.

To end on a positive note, at least United beat the 'Elite squad' aka Manchester City reserves last night when winning 3-1, thanks to a brace from Macheda and one from Cleverley, but the Reds played a very strong team, one that was made up of first team players including, Rafael, Anderson, Neville, Brown, Smalling, Gibson and Carrick.

"Kamikaze" jibe falls flat as City issue wake-up call to onlooking Fergie...

Anyone who saw Manchester City's three goal destruction of Liverpool last night will no doubt have been slightly shocked and surprised at how easy it was for Roberto Mancini's team.

Following last weekend's opening day clash with Spurs, questions were asked of Mancini's tactics: playing three holding players simply didn't look like the right tactic and the City manager was accused of being over cautious by some observers.

But having signed James Milner and by bringing in Adam Johnson on the right, City carried a much greater threat from both flanks and Liverpool had no answer. Wherever you looked City had more power, even Steven Gerrard was coming off second best in the 50-50 tackles.

The media as well as our own great illustrious leader have been openly questioning City's buying policy: Last week Fergie set his gun sights on City with a well aimed jibe questioning what he described as "Kamikaze" buying, but against Liverpool last night it was City's young English players who really took the eye.

Joe Hart, James Milner, Micah Richards and especially Adam Johnson stood out. Following what can only be described as a pathetic World Cup showing, you were left wondering what on earth Capello was thinking of when he omitted Johnson from the squad and equally as bad he didn't select Joe Hart.

Ferguson was at last night's game, he was sat alongside former Sunderland manager Peter Reid. The United manager would have been present to take a personal form-check on Liverpool, but going off the hammering dished out to our "old friends" he will have learnt little as surely the Merseyside Reds will not play as poorly as they did against City. However, there's a well used adage that says 'you can only play as well as you are allowed to'; City simply did not allow Liverpool to play, not at least where it really mattered. The match stats didn't look too bad from a Liverpool perspective, that is they didn't apart from the only stat that really counted - the final score.

City's performance against Liverpool will have sent alarm bells ringing at every top club in the land, because there was no weaknesses to exploit. City look especially strong in midfield and as far as United are concerned this is the biggest area of concern. No way will Scholes and Fletcher be able to cope against City's muscle in the engine room. When United play City, you can forget any notion of Fergie deploying a 4-4-2 formation.

Fergie will have to go like for like and select 4-3-3 or 4-5-1, but whatever formation the United manager selects there must be a very real danger the Red Devils will still end up being over-powered in the engine room just like Liverpool and of course Fergie doesn't have a Steven Gerrard in his squad.

It is very early days, but just two games into the new season and already it looks like Mancini has found the right blend of power, pace and skill, if so, it is a wake-up call for not only Liverpool but for United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs.

Fulham good value for point as United get lucky...

United went into this afternoon's clash with Fulham hoping to avenge two league defeats on the spin at Craven Cottage, it looked as though they might just do that when Paul Scholes scored after just eleven minutes with a trademark power-driver into the bottom corner from fully 25-yards out. The opening goal came about following a neat lay-off from Berbatov on the edge of the Fulham penalty area. It was Scholes's 150th goal for United and he won't have scored many better; the Ginger Prince became only the tenth player in the club's history to score 150.

However, after the first 15 minutes Fulham fought their way back into the contest and they had the better of the remainder of the first-half. On 30 minutes the West London club spurned two excellent chances when Dickson Etuhu was denied by Edwin van der Sar - but truth be told and as good as the Dutchman's blocks undoubtedly were, the home team should have been on level terms.

Peter Walton had an afternoon to forget, first he booked Atonio Valencia when he scythed down Etuhu, but minutes later the referee allowed Danny Murphy to get away with an identical tackle on Paul Scholes. The referee's performance will no doubt have angered both manager's following a catalogue of errors by the official.

The second-half started pretty much like the first, with United gaining a degree of control, but without ever seriously threatening Stockdale in the Fulham goal.
Chicharito partnered Dimitar Berbatov up front in a four-four-two formation; the young Mexican striker looked sharp and his passing was crisp, but he found it difficult to make any impression around the Fulham penalty area against a well drilled home defence. While Fulham were quick on the break, they almost always had sufficient cover at the back and much credit to Roy Hodgson and the new manager Mark Hughes for retaining the continuity which saw Fulham reach last season's Europa League Final.

As the game went on, United didn't really look like scoring; Chicharito had two efforts on goal in total, one in either half, but neither troubled Stockdale, while Berbatov had at least forced the Fulham 'keeper into an early first-half acrobatic save. Berbatov was once again the pick of the United forwards, but he needs to improve his finishing.

As the second-half went on the home team pressed United back and the visitors were extremely lucky to get away with what looked like a good shout for a penalty when Vidic was guilty of shirt pulling. United had another lucky escape when Zamora was through on goal, but the England striker pulled his shot wide of the target when he should have pulled the ball back.

While Scholes was playing well and being busy as ever, United looked vulnerable to the counter-attack, especially down Fulham's left flank. The decision to play John O'Shea at right-back didn't look like a particularly good one as the Irishman was guilty of wasting possession on a number of second-half occasions, when he opted to lump the ball down the middle, invariably, over the heads of Chicharito and Berbatov.

United's luck eventually ran out when Damien Duff somehow found his way around Patrice Evra, the former Chelsea winger played in Bobby Zamora who pulled the ball back to Simon Davies and he crashed home a well deserved equaliser on 57 minutes.

From that point on it was fairly obvious Fergie had to do something to change the pattern of the game as United were finding it difficult to break down Fulham. In a bid to do something to alter the flow of the game, Ferguson replaced the hard-working, but ultimately ineffective Park with Nani, who it has to be said didn't do much better.

Chicharito was trying to play on the shoulder of the last defender - but the ploy wasn't working; the Mexican looked much better when he dropped deeper and linked up the play, but on too many occasions it was a case of either being in the wrong place or else the service simply wasn't good enough - truth be told it was a combination of both and so it came as no great surprise when Ferguson eventually made a double substitution when sending on Giggs and Owen for Valencia and the Mexican.

United eventually started to take a measure of control when they forced the home on to the back foot. Vidic had two headers from corners, but neither troubled Stockdale. But eventually United's pressure paid off when Hangeland scored an own goal from a Nani corner.

Just minutes later United were awarded a very dubious penalty by Mr Walton following a 'hand-ball' by Damien Duff, but Nani failed to convert the resulting spot-kick as Stockdale made an excellent save, but United's Portuguese winger should have done better.

United went on to pay a high price for Nani's penalty miss as Hangeland atoned for his own goal when he powered home a headed equaliser as the clock was running down. Vidic will feel he should have done better as not for the first time, the marking in the United penalty area left a lot to be desired.

The draw was a fair result and United can have no complaints.

Rooney to miss Fulham, Van der Vaart update...

The Premier League weekend action continues today with United travelling to Craven Cottage where Fulham won three nil last season. The Red Devils have been rocked by the news that Wayne Rooney hasn't travelled to London having reported in sick on Saturday morning, the club has yet to confirm the player's absence.

Rooney is struggling to find his form and there are concerns about his lack of goals having not scored in any competition since last March against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Ferguson insists the goals will start to flow again once Rooney gets into the groove, hopefully this latest setback will be prove to be nothing to worry about.

While Rooney is a fabulous player on his day, he's been blowing hot and cold and the man in-form up front for United is Dimitar Berbatov; every cloud has a silver lining and in this instance we could see Chicharito starting in place of Rooney. Michael Owen will also come into contention for a starting place and it would come as no great surprise if the former Newcastle striker gets the nod over the young Mexican hit-man.

Meanwhile, in other news Van der Vaart has denied that he's issued a come and get me plea to Manchester United. Reports in the English media on Friday attributed quotes to the Real Madrid star which made it pretty clear the Dutchman fancied a move to Manchester United. The latest transfer speculation suggests Van der Vaart could be among four players who are surplus to requirements following the appointment of Jose Mourinho and reports in Spain claim the Netherlands international won't be moving to another Spanish club.

Grab your Free bet ahead of today's Fulham game.

Fulham vs Manchester United: All the latest Manchester United betting odds

United caught on the hop over Possebon exit?....

Dear oh dear, it has been a very bad week for United on the transfer front; first the much talked about prospective Mesut Ozil transfer to Old Trafford didn't happen, and coming on the back of that debacle the club have seemingly allowed Rodrigo Possebon to announce his own exit without any word from Manchester United.

There was high hopes for Rodrigo Possebon, the elegant young Brazilian midfield maestro looked the part but he never recovered following a poor challenge by Middlesbrough's Emanuel Pogatetz during the third round Carling Cup tie at Old Trafford last season.

Possebon is set to join Brazilian club Santos.

Possebon set to leave United